


The One Thing You Can't Live Without.

by flashytonystark, violawrites



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, F/M, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-15
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:47:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 4,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27575395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flashytonystark/pseuds/flashytonystark, https://archiveofourown.org/users/violawrites/pseuds/violawrites
Relationships: Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Comments: 1
Kudos: 19





	1. Chapter 1

“Well, I had to be able to see all the parts somehow.” Tony insisted, spreading his hands in front of him as if that would explain everything. As Pepper posed her next question Tony simply squinted at her in confusion.

"How are you supposed to tell something is the best if it's not the most expensive?" That was the philosophy that he'd lived by for the first forty years of his life and it wasn't going to be so easy to break out of that.

Tony picked at the nail with his teeth even as Pepper refused to kiss it and make it better for him.

"Alright, fine. "But I'd like to be involved, it's no trouble. And now that I'm only working with the Research and Development team I'll actually have time to come up here and supervise. Besides, I'm sure the crew would love having me and my expertise around. Guess I wouldn't say no to a bed and breakfast, though." Tony conceded. And as much as he hated to admit it, Pepper had a point about Gerald. A construction site was no place for an alpaca.

"We could take him to the compound with us until the house is done. There's plenty of space there and we could hire a — what do you call someone who specialized in alpaca care? Because we could hire one of those. Like a nanny but for Gerald." He told her.

With the throbbing in his hand mostly subsided, Tony turned his attention back to the tent stake in front of him, giving it one last hit with the hammer and driving it into the ground.

"There," He said, standing up with a satisfied look on his face. "One tent all set up. And on a completely unrelated note, there's no rain in the forecast for tonight, is there?"

As much as the tone of his voice suggested he might be serious, Tony had checked the forecast at least a dozen times before they'd left home. The weekend had gone perfectly so far with Pepper agreeing to let him build the house and it would be just Tony's luck that the weather would ruin everything before he was able to pull off his second surprise.


	2. Chapter 2

“Quit picking before you make it worse,” Pepper scolded, pushing Tony’s hand away from his mouth as she gave a tired sigh. “And for the record, the most expensive isn’t always the best. Remember when you insisted on dropping a quarter of a million dollars on a robot that was supposed to replace Dum-E, only to find out it caused more harm than good? Perfect example. Dum-E is made up of what, a couple hundred bucks of spare parts you found lying around?”

Tony was known for his lavish lifestyle, particularly when it came to cars and big screen televisions and now apparently camping tents. Pepper, while she had a taste for expensive shoes, preferred her mid-sized SUV and shopping for throw pillows and candles at Target.

She liked to think they helped balance each other out.

“You can help out by not being up here three times a week and bothering the contractors. I’d much rather have you at home in case I need you to come into the office or something. I have no doubt that whoever you hire will do an excellent job,” she said, smiling a little when Tony mentioned the bed and breakfast. Food tended to be a good motivator and Pepper was not above using that to her advantage.

As Tony finished driving the last stake into the ground, Pepper considered his suggestion of bringing Gerald back to the compound with them. The fact that Tony was being serious told Pepper he really did plan on keeping the alpaca and she sighed in resignation to herself.

“I’m sure we can find a place for . . . Gerald. I’ll do some research, see if I can find a reputable breeder in the area, and have them stop by. But really? Are you sure we have to call him Gerald? Can’t we just refer to him as ‘the alpaca’ or is that asking too much?”

Pepper wasn’t against pets, in fact she always thought she and Tony would end up with a dog or two once they both finally decided to take a step or two back from work and defending the world. But an alpaca? That certainly hadn’t been on her list of potential pets.

“As far as I know, no rain. Perfect weather all weekend aside from the slight chance of rain tomorrow evening. Why does it matter? You bought us this fancy tent, I’m sure it’ll keep us warm and dry even if we did find ourselves in the middle of a spontaneous thunderstorm.”


	3. Chapter 3

“Well, yeah. I made Dum-E with scraps I found in the workshops at MIT, but I wouldn’t exactly call him a paragon of technology when he still doesn't know how to sort bolts from nuts.” Tony said with a long suffering sigh, before adding, “And for the record most expensive is definitely the best.”

Tony barely resisted the urge to insist that he would in fact not be bothering the contractors at all, but decided that being close to Pepper if she needed him wasn’t the worst thing in the world. That was the whole idea behind building her a house in the first place, after all. 

“No, No.” Tony shook his head as he studied Gerald, who was attempting to eat the one page of directions for the tent that had escaped, spitting it out when he decided he didn’t like the taste. “An animal that majestic needs a name, don’t you think?” 

“Of course the tent will keep us dry.” He said, hoping that his voice didn’t sound like he was trying to avoid a certain subject. Truly, he was also concerned with defending his choice in the tent, especially when it had taken up so much space in the back of the car. Instead, he stepped forward, fiddling with the top of the tent until the found the button he was looking for. With a soft click, an awning unfolded from the front, making Tony jump back in order to avoid being hit by it. 

“See, all the protection from rain you could ask for.” He said, waving his arms at it in a poor imitation of a game show host. “But since the weather is going to be perfect I thought maybe we could go for a nice walk tomorrow. You know, go around the lake, maybe take a lunch with us and just take our time. Get to know the land where we’re going to be living.”

Ever since returning from Titan, Tony had developed a newfound appreciation for not rushing things. Of course it was certainly easier to appreciate the little things in life when he wasn’t stranded in a spaceship but he still could think of nothing else he’d rather do than spend the weekend being lazy with Pepper.


	4. Chapter 4

Pepper was always coming to defense of Dum-E, feeling more and more protective of the little bot over the years, and this was no exception.

“He does too know the difference. I’ve watched him sort them myself without any problem,” she insisted. “Maybe you stress him out, did you ever consider that?” And, adding under her breath, “you certainly know how to stress me out.”

As Gerald spit out the page of tent directions he’d found in the grass, Pepper made a face. She’d known this alpaca all of twenty minutes and she could already tell he would be a handful. An alpaca who’d basically been given free range of ten acres was bound to get into some mischief once the house was built and something told her Tony would be to blame more often than not.

“Fine,” she said with a resigned sigh. “We’ll call him Gerald. But the first time he eats my flowers, I’m banishing him — and you — to the other side of the lake, whether we own that land or not.”

As Tony pressed the button to unfold the awning, Pepper rolled her eyes at the tent and its excessive features. It was a very Tony-purchase; she would’ve went with something far more simple with a zippered door and a small mesh window. They were camping, not trying to recreate the Ritz-Carlton in tent form.

“This is ridiculous,” she said, gesturing to the awning. “I don’t even want to think about how much money you spent on a tent that’ll be used once and end up in the attic for the rest of our lives. If you would’ve told me, I could’ve found a perfectly acceptable one at Target for probably a quarter of what you paid for this.”

Reaching up, Pepper tucked the wisps of hair that had fallen from her bun back behind her ears and nodded toward their luggage she’d taken from the trunk after the tent had been freed.

“You want to get up and go for a walk around the lake tomorrow?” Pepper asked, stopping with her hand still outstretched toward her bag. The last thing she’d expected to come out of Tony’s mouth was a suggestion that they go for a walk, let alone take their time. She figured he’d want to pour over the plans for the house for what she could only assume was the millionth time.

“You know I’m never going to say no to a walk. I think the fresh air has gone to your head already, not that I’m complaining,” she said with a smile. “I’ll fix sandwiches in the morning and pack a cooler full of snacks for us. I made sure to bring the best ones, you know. In the meantime, help me with the bags. I think you brought three quarters of your wardrobe with you.”


	5. Chapter 5

“Oh, we definitely own that land, too.” Tony assured her. “I bought us ten acres here, so pretty much everything you can see from here is yours now.” 

The construction for the house would turn some of that into livable space, but Tony had to admit he liked the idea of keeping the rest of it wild, maybe getting another alpaca or five. “But there’s no need to banish me. I’m sure Gerald is very well behaved.”

“I didn’t bring that much with me.” Tony insisted as he walked towards the car and reach for the first bag, one of his monogrammed leather duffel bags that he’d found covered in dust crumpled at the back of his closet the day before. The contents of which we’re going to be somewhat of a surprise to him. “I just threw in what I thought we’d need for a fun weekend.” 

Tony grabbed another bag, clearly Pepper’s, and headed to the tent. It was large enough that he didn’t even have to duck when he stepped over the entrance and under the canopy. “Yes, I think this will do. And I don’t know why you’re saying we’ll never use it again. We should get Rhodey and Carol and take them camping somewhere, make a couples trip out of it.”

“But yes. I do want to take a walk around the lake tomorrow, just maybe not so early.” Tony qualified as he set the luggage down just inside the doorway to the tent. “Oh, that reminds me, I should set the generator and the coffee maker up too before we put the mattresses in here. Definitely before it gets dark.” 

He was fully prepared to tell Pepper that he’d had the small generator for years and hadn’t spent money on it just for this weekend, should she question his decision or the practicality. 

“That way once we have power I can show you the full specs of the house designs and you can really get an idea of what we’re building. I’d like your opinion on the offices I designed for us, and of course the garden out back. I couldn’t settle on azaleas or roses to plant.” He said, musing as he headed back towards the car and the rest of the boxes.

  
  



	6. Chapter 6

"I like that," Pepper said quietly, a serene smile on her face as she looked out over the lake. "It's a good place to start a new chapter with far fewer interruptions. And no neighbors, that's a plus too."

She looked back to the alpaca who'd wandered several feet away from them, looking around as if he knew the land he was used to roaming would be changing. "Your idea of well-behaved is drastically different from mine, so I still can't guarantee I won't banish you to the other side of the lake."

Pepper grabbed her small backpack from the front seat of the car, along with the bag containing most of the snacks from their pantry at home while Tony gathered their luggage. Judging by the look of the duffel bag on his shoulder, Pepper could almost guess that, despite this trip being something _he_ planned, Tony still waited until the last minute to even consider packing.

"You probably didn't even look at what you were pulling out of your drawers," Pepper said, walking toward the tent. "You probably have ten pairs of jeans, a suit jacket, one pair of socks, and your toothbrush shoved in that thing and that's it."

Pepper followed after Tony as he stepped inside the tent — though she had to duck slightly — and rolled her eyes at the amount of space it contained. It could easily hold six people and air mattresses without issue (far more than they'd ever need), though the look on Tony's face said he was more than happy with his purchase.

"It's still a bit much," Pepper said, dropping the bag and her backpack next to their luggage. "But I guess it's a good size for you if I ever need to kick you out of the house for a few hours. Maybe you and Gerald can get some use out of it."

She was only half joking.

"Oh, taking Rhodey and Carol with us would be so much fun! We should do that. You know what, I'm going to call Carol as soon as we get back and see what she thinks," she smiled. Rarely did Tony willingly agree to a double date, let alone be the one to initiate such a thing. He was full of surprises this weekend, it seemed like. Between a massive swath of land and a promise for their dream home and initiating things he normally would have balked at, Pepper was beginning to wonder if it really was Tony Stark standing in front of her.

It should have come to no surprise that Tony had a small generator stashed away, though she was fairly certain it had to have been a new purchase.

"Did you really go out and buy a generator just so you could have coffee in the morning?" she asked, raising a brow. It was certainly something Tony would do, so it didn't come as much of a surprise. "I can already tell you I want a nice, big window. With a seat and a view. Preferably angled toward wherever you plan on having the wood pile so I can watch you during the summers. You know, in case you nearly cut an arm off or something and require medical attention. As for the flowers, azaleas. I need to do a little more investigating, but I'm pretty sure the ground is more suited for them and the trees will block out some of the sun. Roses wouldn't do well here." 


	7. Chapter 7

“Yeah, that’s probably fair. Maybe I’ll just leave the tent up over there instead for when that inevitably happens.” Tony told her, not overly concerned. 

Tony only nodded when Pepper excitedly agreed that she was going to call Carol as soon as they were back in the city. It was certainly exciting news to share that they were planning to move across the state and build a house, but Tony couldn’t help wonder if Pepper might even have  _ other  _ news to share once the weekend was over. 

“Mhm,” Tony said, giving her a teasing grin before closing the distance between them and wrapping his arms around her from behind. “Windows, we can do that. But are you sure it’s not because you like to watch me work? Which, I’m not complaining by the way.”

Tony made a dismissive noise as Pepper made accusations about his packing rituals. “I looked. And I can promise you I’ve got at least . . . one pair of pants in there. Probably two.”

“Oh, I’ve had this generator for years. I built it after the fourth time Dum-E cut the power on me while I was trying to run the specs to see if I could make the Mark 50 submersible in water. But having coffee in the morning is a nice perk.” He told her. Moving towards the equipment, Tony flipped the switch on top that would start it, which was followed by a soft humming noise that indicated it was working. 

“Ah, there we go.” He gave the machine a satisfied pat before standing up again,.

“So I know it’s not exactly as nice as the holotable, but what do you say we get the rest of the stuff from the car unpacked and then I can give you the full tour of the house?” 

He made his way back towards the car, grabbing the bag that held the king size inflatable mattress he’d bought with one hand and the one of the grocery bags with the other. 

“I think you’re right about the Azaleas, though. Not that I really know anything about flowers, but I trust your judgment. Maybe blue ones would look nice.” If his memories were drifting back to a certain dress that she’d worn to a fundraiser, he didn’t say it.

There were only a few more bags in the trunk of the car, and Tony made short work of them, loading everything in the tent before he turned his attention to the air mattress once again. “Well, this is going to be no trouble blowing it up after how easily I put the tent together.” He told Pepper as he shook the bag, causing at least a dozen different parts to fall onto the tent floor.


	8. Chapter 8

"It's mainly for safety purposes," Pepper said, leaning back against Tony as he wrapped his arms around her. "Though I _guess_ you being out there working is a bit of a perk, not that that's what I had in mind originally."

Pepper glanced back at Tony's crumpled bag and snorted softly before twisting around just enough to press a kiss to his cheek.

"I'm still not convinced, but you have been known to surprise me before, so we'll see," she said before going to retrieve her bag from its spot in the corner of the tent. She didn't really believe his story about the generator being something he'd had since he started on Mark 50 years ago, though she had to give him credit for his level of creativity and dedication to the lie. Not that she would ever admit it, but the idea of waking up to fresh coffee after a morning of sleeping out in the woods was something she could certainly get behind.

She was rearranging their bags in the corner when Tony stepped back into the tent with the air mattress and before she could tell him to set it down and that she would take care of it, pieces of the air pump were scattered at their feet.

"No, absolutely not," she said, stepping in to take the bag from him before he dumped anything else out. "You go finish bringing in anything else that's in the car and lock up. I'll take care of the air mattress." If the process of setting up the tent was any indication as to how inflating the air mattress would go, Pepper didn't want Tony near it. The last thing they needed was for Tony to accidentally puncture it, leaving them sleeping on the cold, hard ground.

Once the pieces that had fallen out of the bag had been gathered up, Pepper got to work unfolding the mattress and plugging in the electric air pump. With a mattress this size, she was thankful Tony had enough insight to bring a generator with them because it saved her from using the manual air pump . . . not that she was going to admit that either.

By the time everything had been brought in from the car and Pepper had shooed Gerald out of the tent only twice, she had the air mattress inflated and covered in a set of her nicer linen sheets ( why Tony grabbed those from the closet, she'd probably never know ). She tucked the mattress along the far wall of the tent opposite the entrance before putting their pillows in place.

"See, that took no time at all," she told Tony, standing up from her previous crouched position. "You sure we even need to build a house? Not that I'm complaining, I can't wait to see everything in more detail, I'm just saying. I have everything I need right here. I have a couple of books stashed away in my bag, plenty of snacks, oh, and you of course. What more can a girl ask for?"


	9. Chapter 9

“So if I happened to wear that flannel you love so much - and try to steal all the time - it wouldn’t make a difference?” He asked, a crooked grin coming to rest over his features. 

Tony opened his mouth to respond, wanting to say that he was more than capable of blowing the air mattress up and putting the finishing touches on their bed, but Pepper seemed insistent and Tony had learned years ago not to argue with her. Especially when he needed her in a good mood for the weekend. “Fine, but for the record I could have set up the air pump to be able least seventy-five percent more efficient. Maybe eighty.”

It didn’t take him long to bring the few remaining supplies in from the car; more food, their pillows, and two folding chairs that not coincidentally matched the rest of the tent. He was unsurprised to see that Pepper had already finished with the air mattress despite Tony pretending not to have noticed that Gerald had wandered into the tent a few times. After throwing the pillows unceremoniously on the bed, he turned back to her. 

“I’m glad I rank . . . what was it, third on your list of things you need to survive in the wilderness?” Tony told her, tilting his head in an expression of hurt that was obviously exaggerated. 

“Speaking of the house, though.” Tony unfolded both chairs and set them next to each other, facing one of the canvas sides of the tent to use as a blank slate. Now that they had the generator set up and all their luggage unpacked, he was too anxious to wait any longer. 

“You ready to see the plans? Because I think after you see them you’ll take back what you said about not needing a house.” Tony knew that she’d only been joking, but after working on and waiting months to show this to her, 

He took a seat in one of the chairs and beckoned Pepper to sit in the other. With a tap of his watch the hologram appeared and projected itself onto the canvas in front of them. It was a recreation to scale of what the house was going to look like once it was finished, even including where it would be situated from where they were sitting. 

“So the front porch.” Tony began. He tapped his watch again, causing the hologram to shift so that he and Pepper appeared to be closer to the front of their future home. “Is actually a wrap around. I thought we could throw some furniture out there and have coffee in the summer or watch the sun set on the lake. That’s also why I designed the entire house facing that way. Clearly.” He explained, gesturing with his hand.

  
  



	10. Chapter 10

“Look, if I rank you as the number one thing I need to survive in the wilderness, then there’s no room for improvement now is there?” She asked with a relaxed grin. “You better be careful though, Gerald might knock you out of the running altogether.”

Pepper took one of the small throw blankets she had folded neatly at the foot of the air mattress and wrapped it around her shoulders before settling into the chair next to Tony’s while he messed with a setting on his watch. There was almost a nervous, yet excited energy radiating off of Tony as the hologram of the house appeared just as quickly as it had the first time he told her of his plans.

”Oh, before you go any further, I’d just like to point out that I _don’t_ try steal your flannel shirt . . . I simply take it and wear it whenever I please. It’s warm and ridiculously soft.”

Gesturing to the hologram in front of them, Pepper nodded for Tony to continue with his virtual walk-through of the house. She was delighted at the prospect of having a wraparound porch; she’d love to have a porch swing just outside the front doors. It would be her own little place to sit outside and enjoy her six am morning coffee.

“It’s lovely,” she said, turning to give Tony a genuine smile. She hadn’t even seen all of the detailed specifications of the inside of the house and she was already in love with the place. “It’ll be perfect for outdoor entertaining too. Which, speaking of, I’m going to need to see the kitchen.”

With the kitchen being one of the few places it could be guaranteed to find Pepper in, she wanted to see it first in full detail. Their current kitchen was almost perfect, though she’d been considering (and subsequently talking herself out of) a partial remodel for several weeks. The last thing she wanted was to go through an entire new construction project just to turn around six months later and redo the kitchen because she didn’t like the depth of the cabinets.

”And maybe after I fall in love with the kitchen seventy-five times in a row, I’ll let you go into incredibly boring detail regarding the garage and your workshop.”


End file.
